The latest stats

As many predicted, Ellie is really starting to slim down! She's merely in the 95th percentile now on weight (she weighs 25 pounds, which means she has gained over 17 pounds in one year). She's above the 95th percentile on both height (at 31.25 inches -- an increase of 9.5 inches in one year) and head circumference. This all explains why she is wearing at least 18 month clothes!

Proof of the pottering

Here are some pictures and a video of Ellie walking. The video is a bit long, but hopefully worth the watch.

Just because

Here are some more pictures just because.

Ellie has been doing the "so big"/Rocky-at-the-top-of-the-stairs expression a lot lately.

This one looks more like she's about to bust a move!

Ellie loves climbing up on the couch. If there isn't something to step on, she'll just hike her leg way up and give it her best shot (she hasn't succeeded in getting up without a boost or a step yet) and she's so pleased once she's up on the couch like a big girl.

More pictures

I downloaded the rest of the pictures from this weekend and there were several cute pictures of Ellie and her Uncle Jamie and Cousin Cody. Somehow Kelley avoided the camera almost entirely -- we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen again!

Ellie thought it was very fun to push the walker with Cody and Cody was nice enough to slow down for her!

Cody and Gaga played "school" using Ellie's stuffed animals as the students. Several were sent to detention, but they've served their time and have been released.

Ellie's expression cracks me up -- I'm sure she was in the middle of a very animated conversation!

And she's off!

Well Ellie decided that she's a big girl now and she's ready to walk! She walked several times yesterday and again today. It's so cute to see her tottering around. We took lots of video, but it's all on the HD camera, so as soon as Damian converts it to something I can post here, I will update this post!


I think her little friend, Hutch inspired her. She sees Jackson walk all of the time, of course, but he's SO fast that I don't think Ellie can actually see what he's doing. But Hutch came to Ellie's birthday party and he had just started walking earlier in the week, so he was still taking it very slow -- Ellie watched him for a few minutes and then took a few steps herself. Now she's taking more and more -- the record is about 25. Yea, Ellie!

Ellie's birthday party

Today, the birthday celebration continued with Ellie's first birthday party. Ellie had fun with all of her friends: Hillary, Jay and Jackson (17 months); Chip and Hutch (10.5 months); Hope and Jordan (2.5 years); Kristin and Justin; JR and Jaime; Karen and Jimmy; and Gaga. She enjoyed a big helping of vegetable lasagna and then dove into her birthday cake!

The cupcakes for everyone else:
She loved being the center of attention while everyone sang "Happy birthday"

And wasted no time getting into the cake. The frosting (made with cream cheese and pineapple juice) was her favorite, but she did her best to put a dent in the cake too (it was pretty hard/heavy because it had no butter, sugar or eggs in it -- yum!).

The Baxters came up after the party. It's great hanging out with them and Ellie is very entertained by her super-active cousin, Cody.

Ellie loves her Uncle Jamie...especially when he's giving her breadsticks!

But apparently even Ellie can get TOO full!

Thanks for coming up to Dallas, Baxters!

Ellie's big day!

How can it be that Ellie is already 1?! It's impossible to believe that a year has passed since we heard the exciting words: "It's a girl!" And we just couldn't adore our (not so little anymore) girl any more. She is SO fun and so sweet. As with most days, Ellie spent most of her birthday smiling, exploring, and talking, talking, talking. And we were all happy to have Gaga here to celebrate Ellie's big day!

We started the day with a present-opening extravaganza! Ellie was spoiled with all kinds of goodies and some great clothes (thank you everyone!).

We took a break from the present-opening for breakfast and Ellie enjoyed her first blueberry pancakes and did NOT enjoy her first taste of orange.

After a nap and a fun trip to the park, Ellie opened a special present from her Daddy -- a little baby. She was very interested in the baby's eyes (which open and close) and the baby's mouth (which doesn't open...despite Ellie's repeated attempts to pry it open).

She's got a big what?

So I'm used to people commenting on Ellie's big eyes, her big cheeks, her big smile, and her overall big size, but today she inspired a new comment. When I picked her up from childcare at church, the volunteer said "She has a really BIG personality! She showed up ready to make some friends today and she hasn't stopped talking since you dropped her off!" I was a bit worried about how she would do today because she hasn't been in childcare in almost two months, but it was totally unnecessary to worry -- she literally didn't look back when I dropped her off. And 30 seconds later, one of the ladies came out of her room and asked me if Ellie liked the jumperoo. I said that she did and the lady said, "oh good -- she's trying to pull up on another little girl." So she might need to learn pulling other kiddos to the floor is not a great way to make friends, but it's neat that she enjoys being with other kids!

Learning to steer

Miss Ellie may never walk on her own. She has figured out how to steer her walker/push toy. It's so cute to watch. She will hit a wall (or a piece of furniture), back up, turn slightly left or right, run into the wall again, back up, turn a bit more, run into the wall again...it's sort of like watching Austin Powers doing a u-turn in the golf cart, but she's much cuter while doing it. She has even started anticipating the need to steer -- as she starts to get close to a wall or doorway, she'll stop, realign, walk a little farther, stop, realign, and continue on her way. She can go anywhere with her walker now! And she can go quickly...I'm not sure that she's technically running, but she can definitely wog!

Her other new, practical skill is brushing her hair. The bristles are rarely facing the right direction, but she definitely knows what to do with a brush. We're so impressed with her new talents (you would never guess that we're first-time parents, would you?!)!

Sweet ity-bity little baby

Today, Hillary watched Ellie for a few hours (THANK YOU, Hillary!) so I could go visit my friend Alison who had a baby on December 21st. My plan was to watch Baby Jack while Alison got a little sleep, but she only ended up getting a few minutes of sleep after eating lunch and then feeding Jack. But I still got plenty of cuddle time with sweet Jack! He is so teeny-tiny! He weighed 5 lbs, 10 oz. when he was born and he hasn't gained much weight yet -- he's still in preemie clothes. I'm used to saying "I don't remember Ellie ever being that little" when I hold young babies, but I've never held a baby and said "Ellie was NEVER this little" -- she probably weighed 5 lbs, 10 oz. at 30 weeks! Anyway, in addition to being little, Jack is so sweet -- he makes the best facial expressions and just snuggled up and slept and slept! It was awesome to see Alison and to get a baby fix, but I was anxious to get back to my big, loud, feisty girl!

Fun, fun, fun

So I know I haven't been good about posting lately, but it's because I've been busy having fun with Ellie! She is in such a sweet, fun stage right now -- she "jibber-jabbers" all the time (pretty much from the minute she wakes up, to the minute she goes to sleep), she seems to do something new every time I turn around (the latest is learning how to roll a ball), and she is just generally happy and excited about life! So fun!


She has definitely figured out where Damian is during the day. As soon as we walk anywhere near his office, she starts yelling "dada, dada, dada" and waves like crazy. It's so sweet. I try not to disturb him too much, but it's hard to resist when his little girl wants to see him so badly! She got to sit in Daddy's chair the other day and she looked like such a big girl.

In addition to being super-fun, Ellie is super-assertive these days. She's not afraid to wrestle something out of your hands if it's what she wants...including my huge Baylor cup! For some reason, she LOVES drinking out of the huge straw...which is no problem when she remembers to close her lips before swallowing. Most of the time, the water just ends up all over her and the floor.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We love you! xoxo

Ellie's new trade

Given the recession, we haven't been able to contribute much to Ellie's college fund and we've informed her that she will probably need to figure out a way to earn a little extra money. Inspired by her daddy's entrepreneurial spirit, she has started her own business cleaning windows using green products.

New nashers

We finally got a few pictures showing Ellie's new pearly whites. I think she must have a couple more coming in because she's big into biting right now. So don't be fooled by the pictures showing a sweet little girl -- she's actually a bit like a pit bull -- she won't let go! She chomped down on me hard enough to leave a mark today!

No spoon required

Ellie had her first meal without a spoon tonight and she loved it! She had meatloaf (made with chicken and a bunch of veggies), stuffing, and a squash and cheese pancake. It made me realize how much harder it will be get some veggies (like spinach, beets, etc.) in her when she stops eating the purees, but it's also fun to watch her discover new foods.

We're back!

Well, we're back in the US...but not quite back in the central time zone. Miss Ellie is having a bit of a hard time with jet lag and has been up before 5:00 a.m. every day since we got back. In addition to the jet lag, she has a nasty cold and eye infection -- both of which she came down with the night before we left the UK.

After spending Boxing Day at Peter and Sue's (and enjoying yet another delicious meal!) and the 27th at a big Hirst family party, we drove down to London and stayed in a pretty posh hotel. We were so excited about the big, comfy bed, but we only got to enjoy some peaceful sleep for about three hours before Ellie was up screaming...and would only stop when she was brought to bed with us. She slept fairly well, but Damian and I experienced fists to the temple, kicks to the chest, etc., which made it slightly harder for us to sleep. The next morning, we were exhausted and very thankful for cartoons and a pacifier -- they kept Ellie happy enough to allow us to get ready and out the door. Totally enthralled by the TV:

Feeding Ellie was interesting -- she loved the freedom of sitting in a big girl chair and pretty much ate her entire meal while standing up.

So, although we are all tired and we already miss our family in the UK, we're glad to be home and confident that, at some point, we'll get some sleep!